Hello

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with using Tablet PCs for maintenance data collection. I am looking into purchasing Tablet PCs to replace the paper checksheets and breakdown reporting forms that are used at this facility. These paper copies are eventually transferred to an electronic database. PDA's are already used here for other data collection, although due to the small screen size and cumbersome alphanumeric entry, they will likely not suffice. Any information relating to the experiences of others or other possible solutions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Nick:

I was the General Manager at a motor diagnostics equipment manufacturer. We ran into problems with a few companies that tried using tablet PC's. Apparently, there is a lite version of Windows installed. Had nothing but problems.

Verify with the vendors of the software that you are planning to use, before purchasing the PC's.

Howard

Nick,

Besides the small screen size, why was a PDA not suitable?

Were you using forms that minimized alphanumeric entry or refined it with check boxes, automatic date stamp, simple and conditional lookup lists, barcode or RFID device support?

I have been using both a Pocket PC (PDA) and Tablet PC (Win XP-pro-tablet) and with either device you need to "engineer" electronic forms (like Visual CE or Pendragon forms) if you want any success in replacing "paper" forms. The Tablet PC, while having a larger display and more powerfull operating system, still has these issues:

1) Bulky and heavy to carry in plant compared to Pocket PC
2) More expensive, especially for a ruggedized unit (replacement price for damage or loss)
3) Still uses pen-based input or by tapping on virtual keyboard
4) Possibly less reliabile with large screen that can be damaged and hard drive susceptable to vibrations

Walt
w_f_strong at msn dot com

Vendor Warning!

Nick

Design Maintenance Systems make data collection tools using commercial and industrial PDAs. We have PDA-based collection devices in over 100 companies around the world, gathering the types of data you are talking about.

Here is a S/W analysis of Tablet PC technology versus PDA technology for industrial data collection tasks.

Tablet PC

Strengths
1. The Tablet PC operating system runs a version of Windows XP. If you already have a data entry application that runs on 2000/XP there is a (good) chance that it will run unchanged on the Tablet PC.
2. Larger screen sizes (800x600 and higher) means that more complex data entry forms will fit on a single screen.
3. Familiar tools such as Excel and Access can be used to build data entry forms if you don't already have a data entry application.
4. running a remote application wirelessly through Terminal Server/Citrix Metaframe has a reasonable chance of running successfully on the Tablet PCs "normal" sized screen.

Weaknesses
1. Weight/Bulk - the lightest tablet PC is considerably heavier and more awkward to carry around than the heaviest clipboard or PDA. Operators and technicians tend to take a dim view of being asked to carry something that won't fit into a pocket (best) or belt holster (acceptable).
2. Battery Life - Tablets with their large screens, built-in disk drives and laptop processors consume much more power and require much greater heat dissipation than a PDA - getting a battery to last longer than four hours is a major challenge.
3. Fragility - many rugged PDAs will withstand multiple drops to concrete and very wet/dirty conditions - even the toughest tablet is much more fragile. Also, most tablets require disk drives - and even the best shock-resistant drive units are still obvious points of failure.
4. Active Digitizer - most Tablet PCs use active digitizer technology- in other words, a powered stylus. If the operator loses the stylus while on the shop floor, he can't just use his finger or the back of a pencil like he can with an industrial PDA - he needs another stylus.
5. Keyboard Entry - Tablets do not offer a practical keyboard entry solution - on-screen keyboards are the only option. This lack of a portable, physical keyboard has the additional negative effect that programs designed for a desktop with a physical keyboard are often impractical to use without one.
6. Expense - more expensive to purchase and operate than MOST industrial PDAs (there are a few really expensive industrial PDAs).
7. Few operations/maintenance/reliability vendors offer off-the-shelf solutions for data collection using Tablets, although this will certainly change if there is a demand for such solutions.


PDAs

Strengths
1. Standardization - a variety of PDA sizes and weights available, ranging from as small as a mobile phone to larger, very rugged units, but correctly written software will run on all of these units without modification.
2. Battery Life - industrial PDAs battery life ranges from about 8 hours to over 20 hours - 9/10 hours per charge being about the average.
3. Price - there are many price points for the hardware, ranging from $300 consumer grade on upwards. The ability to "mix and match" consumer grade units with industrial grade units running the same software has proven an attractive option for many of our customers.
4. Ruggedness - industrial PDAs from companies such as Intermec, Psion Teklogix, Symbol, Itronix, etc. can be very robust. The first unit we shipped (an Intermec PenDOS unit) over 8 years ago is still in operation every day.
5. Passive Digitizer - all PDAs use passive digitizer technology, which means the stylus is just a piece of plastic. Lose it, you use your finger. You can buy cheap ballpoint pen/stylus combos now at places like Walmart.
6. Many industrial PDAs and some consumer grade PDAs now offer a variety of portable keyboard options. True, the keyboards are often small and cannot be operated while wearing gloves, but they can be very useful for those times when you really need to enter a note longer than a short sentence. Also, some industrial PDAs offer larger numeric keypads, useful if the majority of data you are entering is numeric.
7. There are many vendors in the operations/maintenance/reliability field offering off-the-shelf solutions for data collection using standard and/or industrial PDAs.

Weaknesses
1. PDA operating systems will not run standard Windows applications. You need to buy/build applications for data collection.
2. Development tools for PDAs are not standard - you can't write an application in Access or Excel and put it onto a PDA. Tools such as Visual CE and Pendragon Forms are available, but are not as simple (or as capable) as their vendors make them out to be.
3. Screen Size - PDAs typically have 240x320 screens ranging from 2.8 to 4" diagonally. This is a pretty small workspace unless the application has been written specifically to operate with this screen size. The next generation of PDAs (which will be widely available within the next six months) have 480x640 screen resolution - more pixels, but in the same physical space, which may or may not help the situation.
4. Citrix Metaframe and Terminal Services both run quite well on wireless PDAs, but you must face the reality of the small screen size - a custom desktop app will probably need to be written to prevent the need for "scrolling around" the PDA screen to get to all the fields on the remote applications entry form.

As you can see, deciding between the two types of technologies can be quite involved. In the end, the most important thing is to understand the requirements and challenges faced by the operators/lube technicians/mechanics/etc. who will need to use the devices in the plant. Acceptance from the shop floor about WHY the data is being collected and WHAT will be the results of this data collection is just as important as HOW the data is to be collected.

FYI, at next months IMC conference in Tampa (Dec 6-9), I'll be giving a presentation that will talk about the use of handheld technology for data collection, specifically operator/lube technician involvement with the collection of predictive maintenance data. I hope I will get to meet some of the participants from this board at IMC.

Steve Reilly
Design Maintenance Systems Inc
stever@desmaint.com

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Steve Reilly,

For those who are not attending the educational sessions of the IMC-2005 conference - you can still stop by and see Steve at the IMC-2005 Expo by registering a free Expo Only Pass online here:

FREE IMC-2005 Expo Pass

Tampa Convention Center

IMC-2005 Expo Pass Dates and Hours:

Wednesday December 7 - 10:00 am - 3:00 pm

Thursday December 8 - 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Hope you stop by to see Steve and many others.

Terry O

Walt,

The main reason for the PDA being unsuitable is the skilled trades at this facility feel that the screen is not large enough for them to work with it. The paper forms that are presently used consist of checksheets for preventative maintenance, and breakdown reporting forms. If need be, the trades will add notes to the checksheets. The information on these checksheets is entered into a program called Ivara EXP. Most of the data can be entered without the need for typing, except for the notes. The breakdown reports are enetered in an excel spreadsheet that uses some drop-down menus, although it still requires a good amount of typed entries. The Ivara software is compatible with PDA and tablets.

Thank you all for the input into this topic. It has brought up some issues that I had not previously considered.

Thank you,

Nick

Nick,

I found that Excel SS on a PDA is a poor electronic form. The records are horizontal rows and fields are vertical columns, so simple navigation is a pain. Conditonal pop lists are handy for predefined notes. There can still be a free-form note field, but its use can/should be minimized. I still think it is necessary to design e-forms to capture the necessary data, limit inaccurate data entry and speed data entry. Popup numeric key pads and auto-insert for reuseable text strings are further improvements to improve data entry. A good hand-writing recognition program like CalliGrapher might get the Tradesman's endorsement and thus minimize the barrier of the "small screen". Voice input might be worth a try. Barcodes can be used on asset tags, inventory tags (including oil drums and greases), tools (like grease gun), paper Work Orders, and Cheat Sheet Lists to improve data entry speed and accuracy.

I use a clip-on retractible cord to keep the stylus handy and to keep from dropping it. There are a few rugged Tablet PC that offer dual stylus (active and touch screen) input capability. Finger typing on a virtual keyboard would be possible on a touch screen.

My best advice is to "step in the Tradesman's shoes" by using the device yourself and to watch how they use it so you can get to the root cause of problems and correct them. There are a lot of issues involving plant environment, work tasks, and personnel habits and preferences to deal with. A fancy wireless connection to a back-end server is of no use if the front-end data entry is a problem.

Walt

I'm writing this on a tablet PC. I've had one now for about 2.5 years, Motion Computing M1300, and I really like it. NO PROBLEMS with reliability, either of the HDD or any other part. I use Windows Tablet XP Professional, and this computer is my desktop as well as my portable unit. I regularly take it into plants, weighs 1.5 pounds with a 12 in. screen, 60 GB HDD and has hot switchable batteries for about 6 hours total battery life. 1 GB ram and fast processor, wireless Ethernet, and easy to use. What more could a man ask for?

Very reasonable cost as well. Just thought that you would like to hear about my practical experiences using the tablet. Thanks!

Buddy Lee
President & CEO
MAARS, Inc.

865-388-3802 Cell
865-212-0006 Office

I wouldn't think a President & CEO WOULD have any problems using a tablet PC. Put in the hands of an industrial Mechanic or Electrician and it had better be ultra tough.

Consider the compatibility environment where they will be used:
* humid?
* dusty?
* greasy hands?
* vapor?
* can sustain an accidental drop of say four or five feet without losing the data?

Budget:
Initial procurement: one unit per craftmen? a set for all shifts? spares?
Annual Budget to replace tablet PCs falling in action?

Nick,

We are rolling out a program at a major government installation to replace manual rounds with paper, pen and clipboard with handheld PCs. The units we are using for this use barcode scanning, and are preloaded with routes and pull down menu or barcode input choices. These are being used by the general craft, who have a good degree of acceptance. Keys to success are to minimize the amount of hard data entry, and to streamline with pull down menus or a barcode input form that they just scan in the field for standard comments. The environment is Windows CE, and the hardware is by Intermec. Not cheap units, but they can be shared from a central charging cradle, where the data is backed up every time as well.
The company that set this up is MSI. Maintenance Strategies, Inc. They have a web-based condition-based maintenance software that integrates the handheld route data with PdM data as well.

Hope that helps.

Rich Wurzbach
Maintenance Reliability Group

Our most popular PDA for Asset Mgt, Maintenance info is our iRoc series of PDA's. They range in ruggidized to Intrinsically Safe and are available with FM and ATEX approvals all the way to Zone 1 or Class 1 Div 1 usage. Here is a link to further information:
http://www.hazardousareadirect.com/Products/ECO-iRoc.htm

Looked at the link, and the "toys" are not cheap.

Supplementing, Eugenes comment:
Who is your target? Who is the guy going to use this gadget. If it is a technician taking hours on a machine (just walking around and after that punching data in a computer) it maybe the right choice.

I wouldn't give it to the "field" boys. The average life of the field radios is about 2.5 years. Accidentally a 20 lbs sledge hammer could "rest" on the PDA.

Can we download work orders into PDAs instead of printing their hardcopies and upload the actuals into cmms?